


hot for teacher

by SerpentineJ



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Fluff, I hate myself, M/M, Yes this is Fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 12:12:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5927926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerpentineJ/pseuds/SerpentineJ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU in which Barba is not the SVU dept's go-to ADA, so he and Carisi meet for the first time when he gives a guest presentation to Carisi’s class as a favor to the professor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	hot for teacher

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: ok, usually tbh i'm not huge on the teacher/student thing, bc it feels like an imbalance of power, but in this case i think carisi's probably either already got a degree in something (maybe criminology) or joined the force straight out of high school and is only now going to get a law degree, bc he's def at least 30? and barba isn't actually his teacher, just a friend of the prof, and carisi is an adult with a job and everything. so.
> 
> also i just realized the ship name for barba/rollins would be ballins that's hysterical

 Carisi is tired.

No, scratch that, he's exhausted- drop-dead, pass-out, hibernation-worthy wiped out. There'd been a long case at the SVU, and on top of that his sister is pregnant, which is amazing, but it means she calls him about three times a week for advice, sibling-talk, what color should the drapes for the nursery be, and he loves his job and his sister but the two combined plus night school means that he feels like he's had approximately seven hours of sleep total over the past five days.

His head dips for a moment, his eyelids flutter slightly shut, and he only jerks himself upright in time to stop the pencil in his hand from dropping to the table. Irritated, eyes gritty, Carisi takes another gulp of his lukewarm coffee, hoping it will help him at least survive through this class.

It doesn't.

He's so tired he doesn't even notice that a man has taken the  desk at the front of the lecture hall that Professor Douglas usually occupies.

"Attention." The man says. His voice isn't particularly loud or high-pitched, but it cuts through the room nonetheless, carries through the couple dozen lowly chattering students in the room. "My name is Rafael Barba, and I am an ADA at the District Attorney's office."

He starts writing on the chalkboard, and Carisi knows he should be paying attention to what Barba's saying, because holy hell, an actual lawyer! From the DA's office! But his ears don't seem to want to send coherent information to his brain for processing, and he finds himself staring dumbly at the man at the front of the room.

Rafael Barba isn't a tall man. Carisi can tell he probably has at least a couple inches on him, easily. His hair is short and neatly kept, tucked in a small part on the left side of his head, and altogether he exudes an air of something high-class. His suit is probably bespoke, from the way it fits his shoulders and curves down his sides, and it looks like he's a bit old-school, because from his seat in the third row Carisi can see the peek of a waistcoat from beneath his jacket. A three-piece. Barba stands straight, maybe to compensate for his shorter stature? He writes quickly and sharply, chalk making staccato rapping noises on the chalkboard. There's something a bit showy about him. Maybe it's the pink shirt/tie combo. Maybe it's the way he moves.

He's been staring a bit too long. Carisi looks away, can feel his face getting hot.

Barba provides a temporary distraction, acts as a stimulant from his exhaustion for a few minutes, but Sonny feels his mind slipping into the haze of fatigue that's creeping sneakily back in, its foggy tendrils curling themselves around his eyes. It doesn't help that the man's voice is kinda nice, shifting and steady like the waves of the sea on a cool day, and he feels himself slipping, slipping, slipping...

Carisi's eyes flutter shut, and his head nods onto the arm propping it up.

A throat being cleared somewhere to his upper left jerks him out of his nap.

"I didn't know I was that boring." A man's voice says- oh, oh shit, _that_ voice, it's-

Carisi looks up and- yup, it's ADA Barba, arms behind his back, standing close enough that Sonny can tell he smells like a dream, and oh, he's got an eyebrow raised, this is not good.

"Guh." He says, very eloquently. "Oh, God," he scrambles to sit upright in his seat, "um, Mister Barba, Councillor, geez-"

Someone snickers behind him. Carisi wants to turn around and smack them in the face. His cheeks feel so red he's pretty sure Liv could cook Noah's breakfast on them.

"I know the law can be dull, Mister..." Barba trails off, clearly expecting an answer.

"Um." Sonny says, eyes still wide. "Carisi- Sonny Carisi. Councillor."

"Mister Carisi." The man finishes, and damn, it might have something to do with the fact that Sonny's sitting down and Barba's looking down on him, but the man is definitely intimidating, especially for a middle-aged guy in a pink tie who can't be above 5'10''. "Law can be boring, but you should pay attention in class if you want to pass the Bar."

"Um." Carisi seems to be saying a lot of that lately. "Yessir."

Barba's eyebrow twitches upwards sardonically, but apparently he's not done humiliating Sonny.

"Maybe you can tell me," he says, "what are the differences between a deposition and a cross-examination, and the benefits of each?"

Carisi can't quite believe this, honestly. What, the guy's taking time out of the lecture to embarrass him more?

"Er," he says, more painfully aware of his... less cultured city accent than ever in the face of Barba's slightly domineering tone, "a deposition takes place in front of both attorneys, but not a judge, while a cross-examination goes on in a courtroom." He pauses. "Depositions are good 'cause the lawyers can get an idea of the witness's attitude and reliability in court, and it can provide more information for investigation."

The whole class seems to be staring at them.

"And the lawyers get more hours." Carisi shrugs, even though his hands are kind of clammy, because fuck it, he's tired but he knows this shit, even in his about-to-pass-out-in-his-desk state. "Which means more money."

The corner of Barba's mouth twitches upwards, which causes Carisi to blink in slight shock, and he turns around and heads back to the front of the class without another word.

He starts lecturing again, as though nothing had ever happened, and really? Carisi can feel his heart hammering in his chest, because holy hell, he'd just mouthed off to an ADA, a real lawyer who wore pocket squares and three-pieces and gave off the impression that one of his shoes cost more than Carisi's whole suit, and he'd gotten the vague feeling that Barba could have ripped him apart verbally with three sentences if he had wanted to.

But he hadn't wanted to.

Every so often, Barba's eyes flick over to where Carisi is watching him, and he's never the first one to look away- he'll keep talking, holding eye contact, until Carisi looks down to scribble some notes or gets too uncomfortable to keep from blinking rapidly. It's like a game to him. He's playing chicken, Sonny realizes incredulously.

The cup of now-cold coffee sits forgotten on the edge of Carisi's desk. It's not like it was doing much him much good, anyways.

~~~~~~

"Professor Douglass said to remind you that your papers on the Newmann litigation of 1998 are due next class." Barba calls out after the students, watching them pack up and leave. "And Carisi. Stay back for a second."

Sonny looks up.

"Wh-" He mutters, because fuck, what if he's in more trouble than he realizes? What if he's made an enemy in the DA's office before his career's even started, before he's even gotten his law degree? Shit. Son of a bitch.

Barba raises his eyebrows and points two fingers at him, crooking them in a classic "come hither" motion. Carisi almost rolls his eyes, but he doesn't want to piss the guy off even more on the off chance that he's about to tear him apart.

"What's up, Councillor?" He doesn't know why his mouth keeps running without his permission. Who the fuck says "what's up" to a lawyer?

Apparently Barba thinks that's weird too, because he frowns slightly at him.

"How long have you been in school?" He asks, instead of making fun of him for his obviously sleep-deprived state.

Carisi scratches the back of his head. "Uh, three months, about. I got into Fordham after I moved to this part of New York, 'cause I got a job at the SVU."

Barba raises his eyebrows, both this time- it seems they're the most active part of his face, aside from that weird little lip-quirk. He starts to pack up his briefcase.

"The Special Victims Unit?" He says. "I'm surprised, you look a little... wet behind the ears."

Carisi shrugs. "Yeah, the team makes fun of me a lot."

"So you work with Sergeant Benson?" He asks, and, ah, familiar territory. "I know her well. Old friends."

"Huh." He frowns, confused. "What's this about?"

Barba glances up at him as he snaps his briefcase shut.

"Need a ride, Detective?" He asks. It's a redirect.

Carisi's eyebrows furrow together. "You're avoiding the question. Very lawyer-ly." He pauses, checks his watch. "But you did make me miss my bus."

Rafael huffs a small laugh.

~~~~~~

"Stop messing with that." Barba smacks Carisi's hand away from the buttons on the dash, where he may or may not have been fiddling with the station dial. He draws his hand back into his lap, chastised, and glances at the man in the driver's seat.

Sonny can't quite keep quiet, though, or still, because he's always been an active guy, y'know? Even though he feels like his head's been stuffed with cotton. He's Italian, so gestures, emphasis, expressionism- that's how he grew up. The fact that Barba's body language is basically a steel trap doesn't help, either- he's sitting fairly straight-backed in the seat, hands ten-two on the wheel, looking out onto the road.

"Can I ask you a question?" Carisi says after a minute of painful, awkward silence.

"I think you just did." Barba glances at his passenger, the corner of his mouth twitching reflexively when Carisi rolls his eyes. "But fine."

Sonny opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again. "Why are you driving me home?" He scratches the back of his head. "I mean, I've known you for about two hours, and, honestly, I'm relying on the fact that you're an ADA and you probably enjoy your job to assure myself that you're not gonna kill me and dump my body in a shallow grave somewhere."

His tone isn't accusatory, or suspicious, or even really inquiring- more curious.

The other man doesn't quite laugh, but he doesn't answer right away, either. Carisi gets the impression Barba doesn't really know why he's doing what he's doing, either.

"You're an interesting guy, Carisi." Barba says slowly, refusing to take his eyes off the road, and it might be the taillights of the car in front of them, but Sonny's eyes widen, because- holy fuck, is Barba blushing? There's a red tinge creeping up his neck and tinting the tips of his pointy ears, and Carisi frantically tamps down the urge to laugh. Fuck, he's cute.

Honestly, he's not entirely sure if he wants to push this further tonight, because this seems like it's whirling a bit out of control- damn, he only met Barba today. Fortunately, the choice is taken out of his hands.

"Ah." Carisi exclaims, peering out the window. "This is my building."

Barba stops the car, puts it in park- he drives a stick shift, and Sonny's not sure if he should make fun of how old-fashioned that is or the Freudian implication of driving stick, so he settles for popping the door and stepping out, bending down to poke his head back in.

"Thanks for the ride, Councillor." He says, and he's totally aware that there's a dumb, smug, lopsided grin overtaking his face. He reaches into the inner breast pocket of his jacket.

Fuck it. Sonny's always been bad with impulse control.

He takes out a card and scrawls his personal cell number on the back, pretending he doesn't notice the way Barba's eyebrows jump about two inches up his forehead, and leans inside the car to tuck it in the glove compartment.

"In case you feel like discussing anything with a lowly law student." Carisi winks- fuck, he winks, and he can't quite muster the energy to regret it, he's so goddamn tired- and shuts the door, shoulder bag slung over his side, hands in his pockets, and he strolls into his building, whistling.

He hears Barba's car start off down the street. It makes him smile into his door keys.

~~~~~~

"Hey, Kenneth-" Carisi chases the ADA down in the hallway the next day. "Hey, hold up a second."

Kenneth turns around and pauses.

"Need something?" He asks, that perpetual air of practical amicability still there.

Carisi runs a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, sorry, a bit of a personal thing." He replies. "Can I ask if you know anything about another ADA at the DA's office? Rafael Barba?"

Kenneth nods. "Barba... yeah, I know him." He says. "A little abrasive, not the nicest guy in the office, but he's the one people go to if they need something done, and done well."

Sonny snaps his fingers. "Yeah, I sent another ADA some files pertaining to a case I had while I was at the SVU at Staten Island, and I forgot to make copies, and the guy I sent them to said he passed them on to Barba- do you happen to have his number?"

Kenneth frowns, shifting the files in his hand from one arm to the other.

"I don't think I have it on me, but I can ask him about those files later if you really need them." He offers, and man, what a nice guy. A little sharp, a little smug sometimes, but in the end he genuinely wants to help. Sonny almost feels bad about trying to con him. Almost.

"Ah, nah, it's no big." Carisi says, waving a hand. "I'll just go through the archives again."

Kenneth looks a little confused, but accepts it readily enough. "If you're sure." He replies. "Anything else?"

Sonny grins. "Nah, 's fine. Have a good night, Councillor."

~~~~~~

When plan A doesn't work, Carisi tries getting Barba's secretary to give him the guy's number, but apparently he doesn't take calls from anyone below a Sargeant? Man, what a guy.

So Sonny's stuck sitting at home, channel-surfing, pretending he's not half-watching his phone, checking his watch every fifteen minutes 'cause he doesn't want to be late for Douglass's class.

How sad, he thinks. It's been two days, and he's acting like an overeager schoolgirl.

Eventually, the clock reads 11:30 pm.

Carisi packs up his stuff, grabs his Metrocard, slings his bag over his shoulder and locks his door.

~~~~~~

"Am I late?"

Sonny nearly drops his coffee all over his lap, half-jumping out of his seat.

It's Barba.

"What the- geez, you scared the shit out of me." Carisi sighs, turning around to look at him. "What are you doing here, Councillor?"

"We're not in a courtroom, and I'm not lecturing." Barba replies, taking the seat next to him. "Call me Rafael."

"Then I'm Sonny." Carisi cocks his head, smiles, crosses his arms, faux-suspicious. "You redirected- you didn't answer the question. How like a lawyer." He says, half-joking, half-hopeful. "Come all the way out here to see little old me?"

"You wish." Barba scoffs. "I just haven't been making enough fun of Douglass lately, and I figured that how he teaches his night classes would be a good place to start."

Sonny chuckles and leans back over his desk- Douglass hasn't gotten into class yet, so he's giving the paper he's supposed to be turning in today a last once-over. He takes another sip from his coffee.

Barba starts going through Carisi's notes.

"Hmm." He says, every once in a while, and it's very distracting, honestly. Sonny drops the paper and turns to him.

"Hmm?" He asks. "Hmm, what?"

Rafael flips through some pages. "Douglas is teaching the outline of the Statute of Limitations before the framework of litigation and cross-examination?"

Carisi shrugs. "Yeah. I thought that was how it was supposed to be taught."

Barba snorts.

It's one of the most interesting classes Sonny can remember attending in a while.

~~~~~

Carisi thinks he might be going crazy.

Barba hasn't shown up to any of Douglass's classes since then, and he hasn't called- Sonny doesn't have the other man's number, or he would have broken and called days ago, to be honest.

Maybe he doesn't want to call. Maybe all this... bizarre wishing is one-sided on Sonny's part.

Carisi sighs loudly and leans back in his desk chair.

Rollins, at the desk across from him, looks up.

"Tired, Carisi?" She asks. There's nothing sympathetic about it. "I think Finn's just made a fresh pot of coffee."

Sonny exhales. "Yeah, that... sounds great, thanks for the tip." He drains the last of the now-cold liquid in his mug, grimacing at the taste, and stands up to get a refill. When he gets back, he sits and checks his phone out of reflex.

"Hot date?" Rollins asks, grinning slightly. "You've been checking your phone constantly for the past couple days."

Carisi scratches the back of his head, a quandary spinning in his mind. He's not... embarrassed of his sexuality, and he's pretty sure no-one at the SVU will care much that he's bi, but at the same time, why open that can of worms? Especially over something that he's pretty sure isn't a relationship, and if it is, it's pretty damn one-sided.

Fuck. Barba had mentioned that he knew Liv. Better not bring him up.

"Nah." He says instead, smiling a little sheepishly. "I wish. I gave someone my number, but they haven't called."

Amanda nods understandingly and goes back to filling out paperwork, pen scratching along paper. Carisi tries to focus. He fails.

"Do we have any open cases?" He asks, signing another form with a sigh. "I'm nearly done, I might see if I can get Liv to let me off early. Get ready for class."

Rollins nods. "Go ahead." She says, scribbling another note on the paper in front of her. "It seems like it's mostly paper pushing around here today, anyways."

"Thanks." Sonny says, standing, shrugging his jacket on, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow."

Amanda doesn't respond, but shoos him away with her hands. Carisi gulps about half a cup of hot coffee, regretting it immediately when it burns the back of his throat and leaves his tongue tingling unpleasantly, and pushes his chair in, walking away.

~~~~~~

Sonny never gets a call.

Instead, his phone buzzes once, twice during an interrogation the next day- he's been busy playing bad cop since Amaro left, banging on tables and shouting at criminals, and he doesn't realize that he has a text from an unknown number until he sits back at his desk and decides to check his Twitter feed.

**Anything interesting?**

Sonny blinks, feels the grin spreading over his face and fights to keep it contained. There's something bubbling in his chest. It feels like a laugh.

_that's a little creepy._

_btw who is this_

He snickers. Yeah, he's messing with Barba.

**I get the feeling you know who this is.**

**And I'm just doing my due diligence.**

_thought due diligence was for cops._

**Lawyers, too.**

**You're in law school, you should know that.**

_oh, so u know i'm in law school. is this Franklin?_

**Hysterical.**

_i know. im a gift_

_you gonna make any more in-class surprise visits?_

**Depends.**

_on?_

**If you have Friday off.**

_y?_

**Dinner, 7pm?**

**And your English is terrible.**

_s more convinient. and i grew up in staten island i cant help it_

**You spelled convenient wrong. and I grew up in the Bronx.**

_really? wouldntv guessed_

_youre just really proper_

**Back to the original pt.**

**7pm Friday?**

_absolutely_

_i gotta say i thought you wouldn't call_

_well, text_

**It's been busy.**

_lawyerly stuff?_

**Sure.**

_texting on the job..._

_i should report you lmao_

**Aren't you at work?**

_and how do u know that?_

**I know Liv's in her office...**

_u texting her too?_

_im hurt. cheating already_

**As if.**

_oh, i gtg, rollins needs a bad cop_

_ttyl_

_ <3 _

**The more I talk to you, the more convinced I become that you're actually a 12 yr old girl.**

_ <3 <3 _

Sonny laughs and sticks his phone in his pocket, rolling up his sleeves, checking that his hair is still slicked back. Bad cop. Let's go.

Before he leaves his desk, though, he scrawls "fri. 7pm" on a post-it in red marker and sticks it to his monitor.

It's gonna be a good week.

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: in which sonny is literally me texting/msging
> 
> as always, this'll probably remain a oneshot. and i will update meet the fam. soon
> 
> concrit very very welcome please tell me if barba seems ooc bc he feels kinda ooc as i'm writing this tbh
> 
>  
> 
> [punch me in the face on tumblr](https://serpentinej.tumblr.com)
> 
>  
> 
> OH. HEY. If you're a Raúl (obsessee) fan like me, apply to out new network, the Esparza Defense Squad! (literally the only requirement is that u want esparza to be happy.) [More info here.](http://esparzadefense.tumblr.com)


End file.
